WOODEN AWARD HAS A FRESH LOOK.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer Texas' Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988 in Washington, D.C.[6][7]) is a 6'9" basketball player for the Seattle SuperSonics, picked second in the 2007 NBA Draft from the University of Texas. and Ohio State's Greg Oden Gregory Wayne Oden Jr. (born January 22, 1988, in Buffalo, Oregon) is an American basketball player, currently playing for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. While in high school, Oden was named the PARADE could have been promising young NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= stars with lucrative contracts and even gaudier endorsement deals this season if not for a new rule that prohibits players from jumping from high school to the pros. The riches will come soon enough, but players can't put a pricetag on the prestigious Wooden Award, which one of the freshmen could win today. The award will be nationally televised at 11 a.m. from the Los Angeles Athletic Club Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is an athletic club in Los Angeles, California, USA. It awards the John R. Wooden Award to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year. . Durant, Oden, Texas A&M's Acie Law IV Acie Law IV (born June 25, 1985) is an American basketball player at point guard who currently plays for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. In his four seasons at Texas A&M University, Law scored 1,653 points and was credited with 540 assists. , North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3 1985 in Columbia, Missouri), nicknamed "Psycho T", is an American collegiate basketball player for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's basketball team. and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker are the finalists for the award, which was voted on by a panel of more than 1,000media members and college basketball experts. For the first time in the Wooden Award's 31-year history, there are two freshmen among the five finalists. UCLA's Arron Afflalo was named to the Wooden All-America team. Last year, Duke's J.J. Redick won the Wooden Award. Purdue coach Gene Keady will receive the John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching Award." Durant already was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Player of the Year and Big 12 Conference's Player of the Year. He led the Big 12 with 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Ohio State flourished with Oden, the 7-foot star center and made it to the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game, which it lost to Florida. Oden capped off a stellar season with 25 points, 12rebounds and four blocks in the championship game. Law, a versatile guard, averaged 18.1 points per game for the Aggies, helping them to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 27years. Hansbrough, a sophomore forward, averaged 18.4points and 7.9 rebounds in leading the Tar Heels to a No. 1 seed. Tucker, who averaged 19.9points per game, was named the Big Ten's Player of the Year. Also for the first time, fans voted in their own version of the Wooden Award. With 7,600votes, fans named Tennessee's Chris Lofton their Wooden winner. jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Texas freshman Kevin Durant is one of the favorite to win the Wooden Award today. Jamie Squire/Getty Images |
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